Pin number and Password Crazyness

[MikeT156]

I'm sick and tired of the pin number and Password world we live in now, I was in the Hospital of a number of months and didn't need or use my Debit card in months. After getting released I went to Wal-Mart and bought a bunch of food and stuff to stock up. I Put in my debt card and it asked for my pin number and guess what? The Computer said "in-correct pin number.” WRONG, I only had ONE Pin Number I ever used on my Debit card and if Wal-Mart won't take it, guess what?

So I called over the lady that runs the self check out and complained. She remembered me because I have been shopping at that Wal-Mart store since it opened and she showed me how to by-pass the pin number.

 

This has happened to me with Goggle too. I only have had one PW and Google can..........

Anyone else sick of this PW crazy world?

 

Mike T

 

[Delaware Dave]

Two factor authentication is what drives me nuts. Being an IT guy I get it but some of the stuff is over the top.

[DeltaJockey]

I agree, there's passwords for everything, and they are supposed to be all different! I've migrated to paying with my phone, or my watch. It uses my facial recognition or biometrics, so I don't have to remember pins. If I need to use my card, as I haven't used it for ages, I can't remember the PIN!

Unfortunately, the criminals out there will always try to be one step ahead. PINS and passwords will eventually be redundant as we'll all go biometric.

[Lindaru]

I do not keep my phone near me when I am on the computer for the simple fact I have the Windows Phone Link, so if a text, Meta/Facebookk message comes in, weather report, breaking news, so forth, comes in, I can access it on the computer where I am comfortably sitting at the time it comes in.

Then comes the signing in to the site that requires they send you a code to your phone.  Those for some reason do not come up on Phone Link, which means I have to go running into another room, pull up the text, walk the phone to the computer and put the dang blasted code number in.

I do not mind getting up to stretch, answer the door, refill my coffee, what not, but having to run to the phone to get into a site I have gotten into a bajillion times before but that still insists on that code is ridiculous.

Then there is the Captcha stupid codes.  How many have street lamps?  Buses?  Cross walks?   Okay, I am visutally impaired and sometimes those pictures are not clear enough or well defined enough for me to catch them all.

This world has gone authentication mad.  Just let me check "I am not a robot" and let me go.  If you do not believe me, come on over and see me for yourself.

😠

 

[David Emm]

I'm not a fan of digital tangles either, but I also consider it an art form to come up with user names and passwords that are decidedly strange or even disturbing. None include my dog's name or anything Taylor-Swift-y. 🤨

 

Whoever created captcha should only be allowed into Heaven if he can click on all the pictures with traffic lights in them... and there aren't any.

[K K]

At my stupid paranoid job (and it's not even in a "sensitive" or security domain) you are forced to change password every 3 months and use weird characters in them in several different systems and software, etc.  Then for each you receive a robot call on your cell to confirm it is you and complete the login typing a randomly chosen 6-digit code.  The most fun is that when inevitably you forgot a password and type 3 times something wrong in any system, you get locked and have to call the IT service to unlock it. I would agree with such nonsense if I worked for the FBI or at a nuke silo or something.

[Docbop]

From working as SysAdmin and working with computer security department  I know it can be a pain but it's a necessary evil at this point.  Users put their whole life on smartphones the one item with more security holes than anything and then gripe about having to have passwords and two factor authentication, but they are also the same people who scream and whine the loudest when they get hacked and want to sue everyone for not protecting them.   What what the line from the old Baretta TV show "don't do the crime, if you can't do the time".   So don't sidestep security if you can't handle your and your friends data get stolen.  

[MikeT156]

Guess What? I went to you tube and it asked me to SIGN IN?? I never had to sign in before so I guess that's the end of youtube for me.

 

I AM NOT Going to sign in. Period.

 

I can still view video without signing in, but I suspect GOOGLE has a hand in this. Google is inserting Commercials into History videos I am watching. Time to us a different network.

[Docbop]

1 hour ago, MikeT156 said:

I AM NOT Going to sign in. Period.

 

Just curious as to why.      Google is already the one of the biggest collectors of of personal data and knows pretty much everything about you, so what is logging into YouTube going to reveal to Google that they don't know already.   Private companies like Google know more about us than the government and the government know way too much.   So as the Borg said.... Resistance is futile. 

[MikeT156]

I CAN'T Sign in. The last two numbers GOOGLE has for my home phone number are WRONG. So I can't get through their stupid verification process,

 

I had a Verizon land line for 33 years and the last part of that phone number they have are WRONG.  I sent them Feed back and they have NOT responded. 

Google Bought an internet web site that sold merchandise FREE of charge for individuals which also included vintage rifles, and soon after GOOGLE bought it, the site was shut down by Google. They are Anti guns. Now I have no way to sell personal items without paying FEE BAY, which now collects SALES TAX even if the item is being sold at a loss. No thanks.

 

Google is just as bad as Verizon. when they increased my Land Line Phone WITHOUT my consent to 94 dollars a month, I wanted to disconnected that line. I had to fight with them for 3 months before I threatened to take them to Court to get them to terminate the line, 

 

I Filed a complaint with the PUC because they suspended the use of the Land Line because I wouldn't pay them that outrageous rate. I got a cell phone cheap.

 

The Internet USE TO BE FREE, but conglomerates are putting up Advertisements in the middle of videos like cable TV.  I WILL NOT GO Along with it.

 

[ProfD]

There's a point in life at which one gathers up their remaining chips and leaves the poker table.

 

Younger folks and future generations will be accustomed to a world of changing pins and passwords.

 

I believe biometrics will reduce the need for 2-step verification or remembering anything for that matter. Biometrics will be the last chip to fall in having complete access to human lives.

 

Before succumbing to the programme, its not bad if one can afford to get off the grid and be untethered to products, goods and services that require memorizing people, places, events, numbers, letters and characters, etc. 

 

Yesterday, I was looking at upgrading to the Samsung S24 Ultra. The young lady was giddy about it having AI technology. I wasn't. I've still got my S20 for now.😁

 

16 hours ago, David Emm said:

Whoever created captcha should only be allowed into Heaven if he can click on all the pictures with traffic lights in them... and there aren't any.

Brotha Dave, that's hilarious as h8ll. Keep bringing the funny mayne.🤣😎

[cassdad]

Frankly, I truly wonder if the only one whose access is being slowed down is me.  Regardless of all the access antics, the crooks still seem to be able to get access.  Seems all these access antics are doing is “keeping the honest people honest”.

[David Emm]

2 hours ago, cassdad said:

Frankly, I truly wonder if the only one whose access is being slowed down is me.  Regardless of all the access antics, the crooks still seem to be able to get access.  Seems all these access antics are doing is “keeping the honest people honest”.

 

I can relate. After X number of years enjoying the Net, I find myself cancelling so-called services more and deleting pesky apps in favor of making more room for music. It'll be a slow process, but I think we'll eventually see more consolidation, because having 12 streaming subscriptions bleeds you like a horde of mosquitoes. I'm more discerning about my video time lately. I can only follow so much. The next real innovation needs to be more civilized treatment of the customer. All of that corporate hostility is like... well, I won't say, its too nasty. I just get the feeling that like any other market, this one is going to be partially reshaped by customer fatigue. 

 

I dream of putting big C-clamps on the teats of AT&T's executive board, tightening down real hard and saying "THAT'S WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO CALL YOU FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE AND NEVER GET ANYONE WHO SPEAKS NATIVE ENGLISH!! CAN YOU SAY 'FRICTION'??" I truly don't expect miracles when I understand the huge daily wave of calls that has to be managed, but I also shouldn't be transferred back and forth until I want to start cutting myself.

 

As Frank Zappa once said "The greatest power is the power to say 'No.'"

[Lindaru]

15 hours ago, MikeT156 said:

The Internet USE TO BE FREE, but conglomerates are putting up Advertisements in the middle of videos like cable TV.  I WILL NOT GO Along with it.

 

I am not a partner nor monetized on You Tube, but I have had people tell me that in the middle of a one minute video will be a 30 to 45 second unskippable ad on my video.  I have lost subscribers most likely because of this.
 

[Synthaholic]

https://www.bitwarden.com

[Synthaholic]

7 hours ago, Synthaholic said:

https://www.bitwarden.com

This is free for personal accounts and I find it better than LastPass. It works very well with Android and iOS tablets, too. You just have to remember one master password and you can let the app generate long, complex passwords that will auto-fill. On my iPad, when I need to log into any site, it pops up and all I have to do is use my fingerprint to login.

[o0Ampy0o]

On 2/4/2024 at 12:21 AM, MikeT156 said:

The Internet USE TO BE FREE, but conglomerates are putting up Advertisements in the middle of videos like cable TV.  I WILL NOT GO Along with it.

 

Amazon Prime Video has been a paid membership and yet as of Feb 1, 2024(?) they now subject you to commercials. You can pay even more to eliminate those. I do not know if they insert commercials in streamed movies you rent aside from the content that comes with the membership.

 

Worse, these ads are low rent productions. Same goes for Youtube ads. If I see that woman talking about "poop" it is the end for that video. I trust we are all going to be tossing dirt in an attacker's eyes. And Dr. Drew doing Youtube ads? Has he no self-respect? On the radio he sounds so sensible but the things he gets affiliated with call into question his judgement. He will do anything for a buck.

[o0Ampy0o]

Randomly my email account will not accept my password and first attempt I get a message saying it has been too many attempts and I am locked out. I contacted support and they acknowledge the problem and say it lasts about 24 hours and goes away but they cannot get it to go away permanently, "admittedly an annoying glitch" I suspect they use this obstacle process to get you to provide them more info than you have in the past. They want you to use their other email software or provide other contact info under the premise that it is backup in case the primary does not work. But they get more to SPAM with and learn more about you. using that additional info to track activity.

 

A different gripe, I have an account related to work benefits. When they say they are texting me a code to verify who I am the number is an old landline I eliminated a decade ago. Any place I can update the phone number has my updated number yet this sign-on authentication number is not updated. The process to change that number is more time consuming and inconvenient than I ever have time for during business hours so I have not logged in to the account for a long time.

 

I was injured and out of commission for weeks. I knew I had weeks off ahead which made things easier to tackle because I knew I would have the time to see them through to completion. So I thoroughly gathered up all the odds and ends where I had important information noted.

 

My vital information existed on a bunch of index cards, note pads and random sheets of paper. They were not stored in one place all along but at this point I had at least gathered those up and placed them in a desk drawer. Then I constructed a document and categorized all the information that was important to my existence. WHAT A FRIGGIN' PLEASURE it has been when I needed this information in contrast to the search though years of different scribbled down writing in a wide range of barely legible penmanship kept here and there in drawers, corners of my desk, boxes, etc..

 

I have made improvements over the years. It now has a Table Of Contents with hyperlinks to pages, it is color coded, it is clear, sensible and legible with appealing fonts and font face usage, there is lots of appealing white space so it is not a cluster of text. 

 

[MikeT156]

8 hours ago, o0Ampy0o said:

 

Amazon Prime Video has been a paid membership and yet as of Feb 1, 2024(?) they now subject you to commercials. You can pay even more to eliminate those. I do not know if they insert commercials in streamed movies you rent aside from the content that comes with the membership.

 

Worse, these ads are low rent productions. Same goes for You tube ads. If I see that woman talking about "poop" it is the end for that video. I trust we are all going to be tossing dirt in an attacker's eyes. And Dr. Drew doing You tube ads? Has he no self-respect? On the radio he sounds so sensible but the things he gets affiliated with call into question his judgement. He will do anything for a buck.

Amazon Prime is a rip off. Correct me if I'm wrong bu the want you to pay 79 dollars a month for Free shipping. I don't know if businesses that ship products they sell can make use of that, but now they want you to pay to get rid if ads embedded in videos and movies? Major league rip off. No thanks 

 

When I run a video on you tub if a long winded ad comes up on what I am watching I close the window and move on. If we as a consumer go along with it they will ruin the internet.

[re Pete]

Yesterday, I got an email from Google showing me where I traveled the past month. Even if I shut it off, it probably won't IMO. But that's the world we live in. 

I can't take watching a football game or anything on the boob tube without the remote in my hand hitting the mute button. 

Those gambling commercials, etc. and Kevin Hart yelling give me a headache. 

Only a matter of time we get hit with a screaming Yoko Ono insurance commercial louder than hell. 

[Stokely]

I know we've had at least one long thread where there was some discussion about password managers and how they can be part of the problem--after all, they have been hacked!

I do use Bitwarden for most passwords, especially any ones to places I don't worry all that much about if they were compromised.  Like the plugin companies that make you create an account, often with differing requirements as far as password length and character types.   The ones that I'd really worry about like Paypal use 2 factor auth and I'm glad for it.   Anything seemingly can be hacked and you don't want a simple way to get to your money.   

It's nice because instead of trying to remember a bunch of passwords that might or might not be different (as will happen if you ever have to resort to "forgot my password"), I just remember one long phrase to get into Bitwarden.   

My wife and I do not ever use debit cards, only credit cards.  Any problem and we can dispute it, and we've needed to do it from time to time.

Btw, amazon prime is not 79 dollars a month.  I think it used to be 79 a year, but it's more than that now   

My solution to hating commercials is to basically watch very little.  Not really because of the commercials, but simply because I rarely find anything to interest me.  Been getting back more into video gaming as my "screen time" extra activity.    

[eric]

3 hours ago, MikeT156 said:

Amazon Prime is a rip off. Correct me if I'm wrong bu the want you to pay 79 dollars a month for Free shipping. I don't know if businesses that ship products they sell can make use of that, but now they want you to pay to get rid if ads embedded in videos and movies? Major league rip off. No thanks 

 

When I run a video on you tub if a long winded ad comes up on what I am watching I close the window and move on. If we as a consumer go along with it they will ruin the internet.

 

Amazon Prime is an annual membership currently $139 per year. If you use it often, it pays for itself quickly. I am unaware of the ads you mentioned, as I haven't noticed them.

[ProfD]

12 minutes ago, Stokely said:

My solution to hating commercials is to basically watch very little.  Not really because of the commercials, but simply because I rarely find anything to interest me. 

My TV screen time has been reduced as well.  DVR allows me to skip through commercials.😎

[My Keys And Me Are Vintage]

User authentication trade-offs are as old as computing! Never quite get to what we want, but today there are many better solutions. The problem is there are too many solutions and too little consensus. But yeah, this is a topic that can get very deep and wide. 

 

As a long-time IT tech and security pro, the complaints and frustrations have been just as loud and common as long as I have been in IT. It is interesting to have seen the players (the tech, the software, the silicon) change but it still never satisfies us. Nor is it designed to do so. “90% good enough and out the door to get the revenue flow started. We’ll patch it later…maybe.”  Didn’t we bitch a lot about dropped connections on those 2400 baud modems or trying to restore patches from a reused cassette? But we felt it was still worth it, better than the alternatives. I hated having to drive to a bank, cashing a check, run around to different places to pay bills, or mailing and postage stamps. My patience gets tested with all the different methods in use today,  but I won’t let it master me yet!

[o0Ampy0o]

3 hours ago, eric said:

 

Amazon Prime is an annual membership currently $139 per year. If you use it often, it pays for itself quickly. I am unaware of the ads you mentioned, as I haven't noticed them.

They just started this month. 

[jerrythek]

5 minutes ago, o0Ampy0o said:

They just started this month. 

Yes, this is for their video service. $2.99 a month for no commercials. Netflix started doing this as well - their lowest level of service includes "limited" ads. No doubt other services will follow.

[Docbop]

17 minutes ago, jerrythek said:

Yes, this is for their video service. $2.99 a month for no commercials. Netflix started doing this as well - their lowest level of service includes "limited" ads. No doubt other services will follow.

 

Prime channel run fewer and shorter ads than even their other Freevee movie channel.    At this point I'll watch the couple minutes per hour of ads they run and save the couple bucks per month.   I stopped watching Over the Air TV a few years ago because the amount of ads was getting insane somewhere around 12 minutes per hour.  As I remember from a class years ago they said..... everything in life has a price tag, nothing is free.    So the increasing commercials on Over the Air TV got to  be too much, so I pay a small price tag for streaming TV and get fewer or no ads. 

[MikeT156]

1 hour ago, o0Ampy0o said:

 

 

22 minutes ago, Docbop said:

 

Prime channel run fewer and shorter ads than even their other Freevee movie channel.    At this point I'll watch the couple minutes per hour of ads they run and save the couple bucks per month.   I stopped watching Over the Air TV a few years ago because the amount of ads was getting insane somewhere around 12 minutes per hour.  As I remember from a class years ago they said..... everything in life has a price tag, nothing is free.    So the increasing commercials on Over the Air TV got to  be too much, so I pay a small price tag for streaming TV and get fewer or no ads. 

I stand Corrected. You'd have to shop a lot to justify paying that for any membership

 

Thanks for the clarification.

 

Mike T.

[Docbop]

58 minutes ago, MikeT156 said:

 

I stand Corrected. You'd have to shop a lot to justify paying that for any membership

 

Thanks for the clarification.

 

Mike T.

Living around 50 miles from the next city with a big selection of stores, the Amazon Prime membership is worth the money.   Prime includes basic Prime Music, Prime video along with no shipping fees and sometimes it's next day delivery.  Plus Amazon I can order some grocery items that the local grocery store doesn't have or stopped selling.   Plus a few years ago Amazon built a distribution center where I live that created a lot of jobs locally.   So for me the cost of Prime is worth it.   

[MikeT156]

Docbop

 

Some good points. I Live within a short distance to Super Markets and other convenience stores. 8 to 10 miles max. I can see how  Amazon can be Just what the doctor ordered for you. There is a Giant Market less than 5 miles from my house. I can take local roads to shop there without getting hung up in traffic. I do most of my shopping at Walmart because Walmart has everything I need and their prices are lower than every other store that are further away